I just read an article by John Rawling on Guardian unlimited Football, the gist of which was that wayne Rooney's an idiot, and that he has a long way to go before he's thought of a legend like Shearer. Clearly Rooney is not the sharpest tool in the box, and I'm not going to try and suggest otherwise, but I thought it was a poor piece of journalism.
For a start, his premise that Shearer is the much loved god father of the Pemiership is, frankly, bollocks. He will always be respected for the goals he scored for England, and for his uncontroversial choice of clubs. Let's face though, the man's a small-minded, vicious, niggly wind-up merchant, who hasn't exactly embodied the values of fair play and sportsmanship over the years (deliberately winding up Roy Keane I suppose you can forgive, but head-stamping?)
On Saturday the Kop did their best to wind Rooney up, and he responded by scoring. He then celebrated in front of the Kop. Rawling considers this irresponsible, but who's irresponsible here, the football player responding to criticism, or the fans who turn up to abuse players and throw phones?
Rooney is volatile and aggresive, but at least he's not a cynical manipulator like shearer.
Not that I'd have either of them over for dinner...
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